ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a broad overview of the sociolinguistic literature since 2008 from the seven countries that make up Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) and is divided into three main sections: Indigenous languages, English-based Creoles, and Central American Spanish. The majority of the sociolinguistic studies on both indigenous languages and English-based creoles in Central America focus on language attitudes, identity, and revitalization. While much fewer in number, this chapter also reviews some of the variationist studies on indigenous languages and English-based Creoles. Although well-documented in a global context, Central American Spanish lags behind other varieties of Spanish in terms of sociolinguistic studies. Some of the studies highlighted in this section include the unique status of Spanish in Belize, the variation and usage of 2nd person pronouns in Spanish, and the different realizations of /s/ across Central American Spanish. Finally, the chapter concludes by exploring recent variationist studies on the effects of multilingualism and language contact on Central American Spanish in terms of production and perception.
